Leviticus 12:4
New International Version
Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.

New Living Translation
After waiting thirty-three days, she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth. During this time of purification, she must not touch anything that is set apart as holy. And she must not enter the sanctuary until her time of purification is over.

English Standard Version
Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.

Berean Standard Bible
The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete.

King James Bible
And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

New King James Version
She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.

New American Standard Bible
And she shall stay at home in her condition of blood purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.

NASB 1995
Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.

NASB 1977
‘Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then she shall remain in the blood of her cleansing for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing; and she shall not enter the sanctuary until the days of her cleansing are fulfilled.

Amplified Bible
Then she shall remain [intimately separated] thirty-three days to be purified from the blood; she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the [courtyard of the] sanctuary until the days of her purification are over.

Christian Standard Bible
She will continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
She will continue in purification from her bleeding for 33 days. She must not touch any holy thing or go into the sanctuary until completing her days of purification.

American Standard Version
And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

Contemporary English Version
but her loss of blood keeps her from being completely clean for another 33 days. During this time she must not touch anything holy or go to the place of worship.

English Revised Version
And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then she must stay at home for 33 days in order to be made clean from her bleeding. She must not touch anything holy or go into the holy place until the days needed to make her clean are over.

Good News Translation
Then it will be thirty-three more days until she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; she must not touch anything that is holy or enter the sacred Tent until the time of her purification is completed.

International Standard Version
For 33 days after this, she is to remain in purification due to her blood loss. She is not to touch any sacred thing or enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification have been completed.

Majority Standard Bible
The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete.

NET Bible
Then she will remain thirty-three days in blood purity. She must not touch anything holy and she must not enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.

New Heart English Bible
She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.

Webster's Bible Translation
And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days: she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

World English Bible
She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and she abides in the blood of her cleansing [for] thirty-three days; she does not come against any holy thing, and she does not go into the sanctuary, until the fullness of the days of her cleansing.

Young's Literal Translation
and thirty and three days she doth abide in the blood of her cleansing; against any holy thing she doth not come, and unto the sanctuary she doth not go in, till the fulness of the days of her cleansing.

Smith's Literal Translation
And thirty days and three days, she shall sit down in the blood of purification: she shall not touch upon any holy thing, and into the holy place she shall not come till the completing of the days of her purification.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification. She shall touch no holy thing, neither shall she enter into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Yet truly, she herself shall remain for thirty-three days in the blood of her purification. She shall not touch anything holy, nor shall she enter into the Sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.

New American Bible
and then she shall spend thirty-three days more in a state of blood purity; she shall not touch anything sacred nor enter the sanctuary till the days of her purification are fulfilled.

New Revised Standard Version
Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And thirty and three days she shall stay for the blood cleansing and she shall not touch any holiness and she shall not enter the holy place until the days of her cleansing are fulfilled.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And she shall continue in the blood of purification three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And for thirty-three days she shall continue in her unclean blood; she shall touch nothing holy, and shall not enter the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Purification after Childbirth
3And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised. 4The woman shall continue in purification from her bleeding for thirty-three days. She must not touch anything sacred or go into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are complete. 5If, however, she gives birth to a daughter, the woman will be unclean for two weeks as she is during her menstruation. Then she must continue in purification from her bleeding for sixty-six days.…

Cross References
Luke 2:22-24
And when the time of purification according to the Law of Moses was complete, His parents brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord / (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to the Lord”), / and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Exodus 13:2
“Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”

Numbers 18:15-16
The firstborn of every womb, whether man or beast, that is offered to the LORD belongs to you. But you must surely redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. / You are to pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs.

Galatians 4:4
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

Hebrews 10:1-4
For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. / If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins. / Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, ...

Leviticus 15:19-30
When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. / Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean, / and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ...

Luke 2:21
When the eight days before His circumcision had passed, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.

Exodus 22:29-30
You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons. / You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me.

Leviticus 15:31
You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.

Numbers 6:10-12
On the eighth day he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. / And the priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement for him, because he has sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. On that day he must consecrate his head again. / He must rededicate his time of separation to the LORD and bring a year-old male lamb as a guilt offering. But the preceding days shall not be counted, because his separation was defiled.

Hebrews 9:13-14
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean, / how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!

Leviticus 14:8-9
The one being cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. Afterward, he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. / On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

Romans 8:3-4
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, / so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Leviticus 5:2-3
Or if a person touches anything unclean—whether the carcass of any unclean wild animal or livestock or crawling creature—even if he is unaware of it, he is unclean and guilty. / Or if he touches human uncleanness—anything by which one becomes unclean—even if he is unaware of it, when he realizes it, he is guilty.

Colossians 2:16-17
Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. / These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ.


Treasury of Scripture

And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

Leviticus 15:25-28
And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean…

Haggai 2:13
Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

Luke 2:22,23
And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; …

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Abide Blood Clean Completed Consecrated Continue Enter Fulfilled Fulness Hallowed Holy Making Purification Purified Purifying Sacred Sanctuary Thirty Thirty-Three Three Touch Touched Wait
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Abide Blood Clean Completed Consecrated Continue Enter Fulfilled Fulness Hallowed Holy Making Purification Purified Purifying Sacred Sanctuary Thirty Thirty-Three Three Touch Touched Wait
Leviticus 12
1. The purification of a woman after childbirth
6. Her offerings for her purifying














The woman shall continue in purification
The Hebrew word for "purification" is "טָהֳרָה" (tahorah), which signifies a state of ceremonial cleanliness. In the ancient Israelite context, purification was not merely a physical process but a spiritual one, symbolizing a return to a state of holiness and readiness to engage with the sacred. This period of purification underscores the importance of approaching God with reverence and purity, reflecting the holiness that God requires of His people.

from her bleeding
The term "bleeding" here refers to the natural postpartum discharge following childbirth. In the Hebrew context, this was seen as a natural process that nonetheless rendered a woman ceremonially unclean. This reflects the broader biblical theme of life and blood, where blood is both a symbol of life and a substance that requires careful handling in the presence of the divine.

for thirty-three days
The specific duration of thirty-three days, when added to the initial seven days of impurity mentioned earlier in the chapter, totals forty days. The number forty is significant throughout Scripture, often symbolizing a period of testing, trial, or preparation (e.g., the forty days of rain during the flood, Israel's forty years in the wilderness, Jesus' forty days of fasting). This period allowed the mother time to recover physically and spiritually, preparing her to re-enter the community and participate in religious life.

She must not touch anything holy
The prohibition against touching anything holy emphasizes the sanctity of the sacred objects and spaces associated with worship. In the ancient Near Eastern context, holiness was a powerful and dangerous force, and approaching it in an impure state could bring severe consequences. This restriction highlights the separation between the sacred and the profane, a recurring theme in Leviticus, which calls the people to respect the boundaries set by God.

or go into the sanctuary
The sanctuary, or "מִקְדָּשׁ" (miqdash) in Hebrew, was the dwelling place of God's presence among His people. The restriction against entering the sanctuary during the purification period underscores the holiness of God's presence and the need for the worshiper to be in a state of ceremonial purity. This reflects the broader biblical principle that God is holy and those who approach Him must do so with reverence and purity.

until the days of her purification are complete
The completion of the purification period marks a transition back to normalcy and full participation in the religious life of the community. This completion signifies restoration and renewal, themes that resonate throughout Scripture as God continually calls His people to return to Him and be made whole. The process of purification, therefore, is not merely about exclusion but about preparation and eventual inclusion in the holy community.

(4) Continue in the blood of her purifying.--Better, continue in the blood of purification, that is, pure blood. Though the discharge consequent upon the birth ceases after two or three weeks, the period in this case, as in the former instance, is nearly doubled, to include exceptional cases. During these thirty-three days, which constituted the second stage, the mother was only debarred from touching holy things, such as first tithes, the flesh of thank- and peace-offerings, &c, and from entering the sanctuary. Having bathed at the end of the seven days which constituted the first and defiling period, she could now partake of the second tithes, and resume conjugal intercourse, since any blood that might now appear was regarded as pure blood, in contradistinction to the (dam nidah) blood of monthly courses. Her proximity, therefore, no longer defiled. The Sadducees and the Samaritans during the second Temple, and their followers, the Karaite Jews, interpreted this law more rigidly. Though admitting that there is a difference of degree in the two periods, they maintained that the woman was too unclean for conjugal intercourse even during the second period. They therefore pointed the text differently so as to yield the rendering "blood of her purifying." The Authorised Version, which, in this instance, follows the opinion of the Sadducees, departs from the received text.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The woman shall continue
תֵּשֵׁ֖ב (tê·šêḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in purification
טָהֳרָ֑ה (ṭā·ho·rāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2893: Ceremonial purification, moral purity

from her bleeding
בִּדְמֵ֣י (biḏ·mê)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1818: Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed

for thirty-three
וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים (ū·šə·lō·šîm)
Conjunctive waw | Number - common plural
Strong's 7970: Thirty, thirtieth

days.
יוֹם֙ (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

She must not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

touch
תִגָּ֗ע (ṯig·gā‘)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 5060: To touch, lay the hand upon, to reach, violently, to strike

anything
בְּכָל־ (bə·ḵāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

sacred
קֹ֣דֶשׁ (qō·ḏeš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6944: A sacred place, thing, sanctity

or go
תָבֹ֔א (ṯā·ḇō)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

into
וְאֶל־ (wə·’el-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the sanctuary
הַמִּקְדָּשׁ֙ (ham·miq·dāš)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4720: A consecrated thing, place, a palace, sanctuary, asylum

until
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the days
יְמֵ֥י (yə·mê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3117: A day

of her purification
טָהֳרָֽהּ׃ (ṭā·ho·rāh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 2893: Ceremonial purification, moral purity

are complete.
מְלֹ֖את (mə·lōṯ)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 4390: To fill, be full of


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OT Law: Leviticus 12:4 She shall continue in the blood (Le Lv Lev.)
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